SIOUX FALLS, S.D.— The South Dakota Grassland Initiative was created to serve as a hub for Industry leaders to come together to discuss what can be done for grassland conservation by bringing together the entities that provide programs, the producers that own the land and businesses that collaborate with the entities and producers.
Now, they are trying to address how they can connect producers with the many programs that are available to them.
“Obviously, programs aren’t something that every producer wants to use and that’s completely fine. But we want to make sure that the barriers to use isn’t just a lack of awareness that they exist,” said Laura Kahler, director of the South Dakota Grassland Initiative.
They want to hear directly from the producers about why they might not be using the programs.
“We really wanted to sit down and ensure that we were hearing from the producer voice in our conversation,” Kahler said.
They will be interviewing up to 50 producers on the topic of what support is needed for producers when it comes to conservation programs. They have contracted with the University of Nebraska Bureau of Sociological Research who will be conducting the confidential interviews.
“The producers or landowner, if it’s a non-operating landowner, has the opportunity to have a one-on-one conversation with somebody who’s out of state,” Kahler said. “The information will just be tied to an anonymous code name and so their data will stay private and will let us kind of find some themes for what we could do to make programs more accessible for producers.”
Conservation programs are a wide range of programming offered to assist producers in farming, ranching and other land uses.
“The conservation programs are things like technical assistance, the no cost services provided by a professional coming on to your land to discuss some different management ideas,” Kahler said. “Conservation programs might be financial assistance, things like cost share infrastructure for fence or water systems, reseeding, things like that. Land use contracts such as CRP, hunting access programs that pay you a little extra money to provide great habitat for the public as well. Program certifications are also a consideration.”
Questions on the interview will cover understanding personal and programmatic barriers that hinder participation to the programs, how agencies and organizations can better support producer efforts and needs and what gaps might exist in the current programs. Interviews will be conducted either over the phone or over Zoom.
Once all the interviews are completed, then the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Bureau of Sociological Research will put all the data together in a report to be shared with all the entities involved in the initiative.
They have begun the sign-up process for the program. Every producer who participates will receive a $50 stipend. People can sign up at https://sdgfp.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bwrK8vvoqiS7pf8 , or by reaching out to the South Dakota Grassland Initiative. They are hoping to have a majority of the participants signed up by mid-January.
